Venice by Vladimir Pistalo

Every January, while in Sweden it’s cold, often raining and days are short and gloomy, I remember those few days we have spent in Venice. It was very mild winter that year in Italy. I remember blue skies and sun shining so bright. The light was reflecting from the facades and pathways, water in the canals was sparkling, the whole city was glowing. I remember breathing in fresh crisp air, turning my face towards the sun and smiling, eating cheesy gnocchi in a busy restaurant during lunch time, breath taking sunsets, endless parade of paintings and art in the museums where the ceilings, walls and floors are even more beautiful, sun rising over the old rooftops, every shade of brown, beige, orange, green.. life in simple words, the magic.

I got this book as a present from Vs aunt. It was a perfect gift this time of year when I am reminiscing and daydreaming.. probably more than usual.

While I was reading the book it felt like it was me who wrote it. Me with better writing skills. :) It was captivating, overwhelming, deep and intimate, and honest. I marked many pages with passages that meant more, so that I can go back and relive the emotion or discover something new.

The book is about Venice and its beauty, not just the visible and architectural beauty. In sentences as beautiful as the city, writer is describing why it is so important for his own discovering, of himself and the world. He talks about dreaming and living the dreams. 

M

Moral letters to Lucilius, by Seneka

Last year brought to me big life questions that I had no answers to. It is strange how things are happening in life, because then I reached for this book, now knowing that it discusses life, the good and bad, choices, wisdom, how to achieve happiness.

Seneka was a philosopher and he believed in living in piece with nature, not being attached to material things, even food or people. He believed in simple life, where more than necessary only causes a worried mind. Something that he sees as one of the greatest obstacles and the one that everyone should work not to be a slave to is passion. 

His dedication in reaching highest level of wisdom and happiness is absolute. When he is asked to give his opinion on other schools of philosophy, peoples behaviour, professions that he finds less valuable, he does it using sharp tongue which I found amusing. I didn’t expect to laugh as hard as I did while reading. 

I’d say I agree with most of his philosophy. Women of his time didn’t have the same rights as men, which he didn’t found to be strange so, of course, I don’t agree on that. I also don’t agree when he says that, a wise man is not allowing himself to get affected or excited by anything because he doesn’t need more than himself to be happy. Other than that his philosophy is logical to me and simple to follow. Having said that, even the right choices can be hard to make sometimes. I was making breaks in reading because I didn’t feel like being lectured, which is how it felt sometimes. Also, I realised that I am a slave to my desires. 

This book is full of wisdom and I would recommend reading it, or parts of it, few times. It is a good reminder of values and also, with space in between and hopefully growing, you can learn more.

M